Ice Princess
by Troubled Typist
Summary: Sakuno's in High School now and decides to join the Ice Skating club. But between meeting a frightening captain, and some mean team members, she's seriously wondering if she has what it takes. Will be TezukaSakuno...of course.
1. P: Joining the Team

_**Ice Princess**_

Troubled Typist

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**A/N:** Just so you know, this has nothing to do with the Disney Ice Princess movie or anything like that…I never even saw it… :P So there. Also, the first chapter is short but its how I was actually taught to write…so I might as well do it, right?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Prince of Tennis I just write fan fiction on it, no money from this, no nothing.

**Couple:** Guess. Hehe Tezuka/Sakuno.

**Summary:** Sakuno decides to join the Ice Skating club. What? You wanted more of a summary? To bad.

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**Prologue: **Joining the Team

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Sakuno was nervous. Not her everyday nervous either – she was nervous on a whole new level. It was like she was joining tennis club all over again…but not. This time she was in High School…and possibly joining the Ice Skating club. All she had to do was sign that small piece of paper on the bulletin board…

When Sakuno joined the tennis club in Junior High, she already knew a few things about tennis – her grandmother was a coach after all and both of her parents played it. The talent for the sport just didn't seem to trickle down the line to her though. There was enough that she was a starter, but no real noticeable talent to make her stand apart from the rest.

Skating though was different to Sakuno. She could skate, and she knew that she was good at it…but she never skated for a team before, and she was worried that her confidence would crumble when she got on the ice and saw that all the other skaters were so much better than she was-

"Saku-chan! You stop thinking those thoughts right now!" Said Sakuno's long time best friend, Tomoka. When they went to Junior High together, Tomoka always had her hair in pigtails, but now she put all of her hair into a side pigtail. Sakuno still sported her usual braids. "You're a good skater and in Junior High, you never had the chance to be on a team like this! Now is your time – you should so be on this team!" Tomoka waved her arms around, trying to influence her point, but mostly just ended up frightening the other freshmen that passed by her. For some reason they all thought that she was possessed.

"I don't know…" Sakuno said, looking over the names. She didn't see anyone that she recognized. "Will you join Tomoka?" Sakuno asked. Tomoka shook her head.

"I can't – I joined the anime club, art club, and am planning on trying out for softball (1) so I really don't have any time to join anymore clubs… and have I told you how great it is having my brothers be old enough that I don't have to watch them constantly?" The girl got stars in her eyes. "Heaven…" Sakuno smiled at her friend but frowned again when she looked at the paper.

"I don't know, Tomoka, do you really think that I have what it takes to be on the ice skating team? It's one of the teams that this school is known for, so everyone on the team is already really good!" Tomoka just shook her hand at Sakuno's fears.

"You'll be great, no problem girly! I have faith in you! Now…" Tomoka grabbed Sakuno's hand and put a pen in it. "…join the ice skating club and make this the best team ever! Oh yeah!" Tomoka punched her fist into the air, again, scaring some of the passing people as Sakuno picked up the pen and carefully added her name to the paper.

_I hope I made the right decision…_ She thought to herself.

_**fin chapter**_

(1) – I have no idea how ice skating competitions work or what time of the year they take place so…I'm just going to make them take place all year…  My world, not yours nya! Hehe.


	2. 1: We Should Be Starting Now

_**Ice Princess**_

Troubled Typist

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A/N: Just so everyone knows…I'm not much of an OC writer…but this story needs them…they won't be in the spotlight though  so don't worry! Also…I'm not much of a skater…so for any skaters out there… I'm really, really sorry! I swear I'm trying to study up on everything to be as accurate as possible.

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**Chapter One: **We Should Be Starting Now

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Sakuno gripped her backpack strap tighter in her hands as she walked to the local ice skating rink. Today would be her first meeting of the ice skating club and when she glanced at the names on the list a few days earlier, she didn't recognize anyone and it made her worried that no one would want to talk to her. Tomoka though, as usual, was there to settle her fears.

"_Remember Saku-chan, you're probably not going to be the only person who doesn't know anyone there, and who knows? Maybe you'll know some of the upper classmen. There names wouldn't be on the list!"_

"_But Tomoka," Sakuno whined, "The only upper classmen I know here were the former Junior High tennis club members!"_

_Tomoka shrugged at that. "Oh well. You'll still be great so stop worrying about it!"_

The braided girl took one more deep breath before gripping the door handle and walked into the skating rink.

As she stepped into the large building, Sakuno felt herself beginning to calm down. To be honest, she's been in this building many times before. _But never to be a part of a team…_ She thought nervously and started to head towards the rink. When she got closer she noticed some people from her grade sitting around nervously and some were gripping their hands or bags like no tomorrow and she felt more of her unease leave her body. _So I'm not the only one…_ She thought to herself. Unconsciously, Sakuno straightened her back and stood tall as she readjusted the bag on her shoulder, this time because the position was uncomfortable, and not because she was nervous.

She decided to sit down next to one of the boys that showed up and grinned at him as he looked at her in shock. Sakuno pretended not to notice and looked at her watch.

"Hmmm…" She pondered out loud. "We should be starting now."

"And you are." All of the freshman looked up to see a pale skinned, black haired girl in tight blue jeans and a purple sweatshirt skate up to them. She looked them all over critically before crossing her arms. "Welcome to the Ice skating club. My name is Yamada Maeko. I'm the captain of this club. Since you all signed the sheet, I'm guessing you all know what I'm expecting of you. However, some of you may not have read the fine print, so I'll tell you what each of you have agreed to."

Sakuno swallowed at Captain Yamada's attitude and looked around at the other freshman. They were all looking pretty nervous too, but were all listening attentively.

"Number one!" Captain Yamada started. "You will each be here after school everyday except Monday and Thursday unless otherwise noted. Two, each practice session will be anywhere to an hour and a half to three and a half hours long. Three - we do plays and competitions for this club. Some of you may be in, but probably not. To be in those competitions you have to be good. Only the cream of this crop will enter the shows. That means that you all have to work hard and improve to show you have what it takes." Yamada took a breath, "Number four on the list, you will listen to your captain, co-captain and coach. We have these titles for a reason – remember that. You'll be meeting the two of them later, along with the Juniors and Seniors that are in this club. Five – you all are a part of this team. That means if something bad happens to one of us, something bad has happened to all of us. If something good has happened to one of us, all of us had something good happen, alright? Be nice to each other, support each other. If that's an impossibility for some of you, then at least show your school pride by dealing with your differences using grace and courteousness…and please, don't drag anyone else into it!" There were some nervous chuckles, but they all stopped when they noticed that Yamada wasn't smiling. "Six, work hard, work hard, and show up! None of you will get anywhere without practice – got it? And last but not least," The black haired girl went through, not letting anyone answer her question, "Don't make fun of anyone, or be rude. Some of you may have been skating since you could walk, for some of you, this may be your first time stepping onto the ice. It doesn't matter how good you are, we're all here to get better. Now…" This time, Yamada looked at her watch. "I'll need everyone to tell me whether or not they brought skates and if they didn't, what their skate size is so I can get some rentals out of storage." She looked at the freshman again. "Who here brought skates with them?" Sakuno and a few others nervously raised their hands and Yamada skated to dry area with bleachers that they were all sitting in and grabbed a clipboard that had been lying down near the entrance to the actual rink.

"Your names are?" She looked at Sakuno first.

"I'm Ryuzaki Sakuno." Yamada nodded her head.

"And how do you spell that?" She asked. Sakuno answered and Yamada jotted it down.

"Type of skates – actually, everyone with skates just take them out, and please do it slowly! I don't want anyone getting injured like last year…" Yamada mumbled under her breath as she waited for Sakuno to do just that. Sakuno brought out a pair of white skates that were only slightly worn in. "Those Riedell?" (1) Sakuno nodded, "Model?"

"White Ribbon 112." Sakuno said without skipping a beat. She looked around and noticed that some of the people were looking at her with wide eyes. "What?"

Yamada ignored whatever Sakuno was thinking about and looked at the blades. Her eyebrows rose with surprise.

"Are these new blades?" She asked. Sakuno blushed and shook her head.

"Ah, no. I just sharpened them before practice…I wanted to start off as good as I could…and the blades aren't _that_ old." Yamada looked even more surprised at that.

"You know how to sharpen your blades?" She asked, clearly surprised. Sakuno blushed.

"Ah…er…yes?" She asked nervously. Yamada took her pen and tapped her lips a few times, studying Sakuno before moving down the line to the other people that brought skates with them. Sakuno sighed with relief at finally having all of the attention off of her. The boy she sat next to nudged her lightly.

"Hey, are you trying to show off or something?" He asked her. Sakuno's face turned red quickly.

"Oh no! I was just trying to-" The boy laughed but stopped from the glare that Yamada sent his way. He got a more serious look on his face but his eyes were still shining and he was still grinning.

"I'm just playing with you. Its actually pretty cool that you knew all that stuff." Sakuno knew that this boy was just as nervous as everyone else was when she got into the rink area, but somewhere during her conversation, he apparently got over it. "I'm Hashiki Makoto, and please, call me Makoto." The boy stuck out his hand which Sakuno shook cautiously.

"Ryuzaki Sakuno, and you can call me Sakuno." She smiled the two looked away from each other for a moment to watch Yamada go farther down the line, she had three more people to check before getting everyone else's sizes so she could get their skates. After a while, Makato leaned back.

"Ugh… no wonder the upper classmen aren't here yet, this is taking forever." Sakuno laughed at that and nodded in agreement.

"Everyone who didn't bring skates, line up here and give me your shoe sizes!" Yamada yelled unexpectedly. Makato got up quick.

"That's me!" He said, hustling forward along with eight other people, only having four people in the group who brought their own skates. Sakuno leaned back and looked at the area where she was at.

It was a large room, as most rinks were, with a regulation size rink, and the ice was recently smoothed over by one of those things that always goes over the ice…Sakuno always forgot what those things were called. A Zambooni? Zamboni? Did it even begin with a Z? Or end in oni? She didn't have a clue.

Anyway, the ice was surrounded by a barrier that had three entry/exit points to the rink, one of which they were currently by. The rink had bleachers on three sides and a wall on the last.

_Man…I really want to skate…_ Sakuno thought to herself but she pushed down the urge, remembering the captain's words. _It won't be long, Sakuno…and if you don't skate in practice today, you can just stay behind and skate for a little while on your own!_ Happy with this thought, Sakuno settled in and was going to wait nicely until everyone got back when one of the girls (three girls and one boy brought skates with them) started putting on her skates.

"I can't believe how bogusly I'm being treated!" She huffed as she took off her street shoes and putting on her black skates. Sakuno could see the girl's name embroidered on the side. The girl was a few feet away but she could still read the neon pink thread.

_Sada…_ Sakuno thought, doing her best to commit the name to memory. She had a feeling that this was a girl that she wasn't going to mess with. The girl in question had medium length hair, dyed a mixture of pink and black, and her clothing (not to mention her skates) matched her hair. What stood out though was her contacts, they were black with pink irises, giving her a very eerie appearance.

_I hope those are contacts anyway…_ Sakuno thought to herself. She watched as the girl confidently walked to the entryway of the rink and pushed herself off, starting to skate. Sakuno's eyes widened and her hands went to her mouth.

"Sada!" Sakuno winced at using the girl's first name, but she didn't know the girl's surname so she didn't really have a choice. "You should come back here right now! The captain didn't tell us to skate!" Sakuno said, yelling slightly so that Sada would hear her. The other girl turned backwards as she skated and glared at Sakuno.

"Shut up, show off." She said simply before turning around and skating some more. The remaining boy and girl looked at each other and then to the two girls, wondering if they should do something, then decided that it wasn't their problem and leaned back to watch what was developing.

Sakuno huffed at being called a show off.

"I am not a show off." She mumbled quietly to herself. She looked back at Sada. "Please Sada! Get off the ice! We could all get in trouble if you don't!" _Like in tennis club… almost every time one of the girls stepped out of line, she made the rest of us pay for it too…_ Sakuno thought to herself.

Sada did an impressive jump and spin, but her landing wasn't to straight and Sakuno was worried she'd hurt herself.

"Please Sada! Get off the ice. You don't want everyone to get in trouble because of-"

"Oh please!" Sada cut her off. "Like you're actually worried about 'everyone' here. You're just worried about yourself." Sakuno felt herself get angry at the jibe that the pink and black haired girl sent her.

"I am not and-" Sakuno was again cut off, but this time at feeling someone put their hand on her shoulder. She turned to look around her mouth dropped in shock.

"T-T-Tezuka Senpai." The boy (man?) in question looked down at her for a moment and seemed to try and remember where he knew this girl from. He knew that he recognized her from somewhere…

"Shimizu!" He yelled. The girl on the ice turned quickly to the male voice. "Get. Off. The Ice." He commanded.

The girl quickly skated back.

_-fin chapter-_

(1) – Skate brand


	3. 2: Tezuka and Kikumaru

_**Ice Princess**_

Troubled Typist

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**A/N:** I just figured something out ice skating is probably a winter sport so it would take place at a completely different time then tennis. I'm dumb. However, nothing is permanent yet so… Tennis summer skating winter…I'm a little slow on the uptake :whistles:

Also – I need a couple beta readers…anyone interested? Tell me in the review!

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**Chapter Two: **Tezuka and Kikumaru

_-_

_**Last Time**_

"_T-T-Tezuka Senpai." The boy (man?) in question looked down at her for a moment and seemed to try and remember where he knew this girl from. He knew that he recognized her from somewhere…_

"_Shimizu!" He yelled. The girl on the ice turned quickly to the male voice. "Get. Off. The Ice." He commanded._

_The girl quickly skated back._

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Sakuno didn't pay attention as Sada, or Shimizu as she'd now try to call her, came skating back. She was putting more of her attention onto Tezuka who was glaring at Shimizu.

_I'm awfully happy I'm not on the other side of that glare…_ She thought. She felt someone tug on her braids and turned to look at the smiling face of Eiji.

"Kikumaru Senpai!" Sakuno bowed lightly to him.

"Saku-chan!" Eiji said, "Don't be like that! We're still friends, aren't we?" He asked, pouting lightly. It had been at least a year since Sakuno had seen Eiji.

Sakuno nodded and hugged the older boy as Tezuka looked on.

"I didn't know that you guys skated!" She said, still talking to Eiji. He just shrugged happily at her surprise.

"And we didn't know that you skated!" He said, pointing at her skates that she left on the bleachers. She blushed but nodded lightly.

"What were you doing Shimizu?" Tezuka asked, cutting into their conversation. The girl looked around nervously, but then put on a brave face.

"I was getting bored with waiting and wanted to skate. We're in an ice skating rink. It's what you do here." She said simply. Tezuka crossed his arms over his chest.

"Two laps." He said simply. The girl looked confused but then started to head back out onto the rink and Sakuno could have sworn she saw Tezuka's annoyance raise with the other girl. "With sneakers, around the _building_." He explained. Shimizu turned to him, her mouth open in shock.

"You've got to be kidding me. This place is huge!" Out of the corner of her eye, Sakuno saw the other freshman and Yamada walking up to them, all with rental skates in hand.

"You'd better get started then." Tezuka said simply. Shimizu huffed.

"You're not the captain." She said simply.

"No, he isn't." Yamada stated as she came closer, "He's co-captain. Start running." Shimizu snapped her mouth shut and went back to her bag, replacing her skates for her sneakers. She also took off her sweatshirt as the weather was still warm enough outside to do so and quickly left without another word, starting her run.

As Sakuno turned to watch her go, she realized that quite a few juniors and senior members besides Eiji and Tezuka had shown up while she was watching Shimizu get reprimanded. About eighteen juniors and seniors had shown up, she'd say. She also realized that her geography teacher was here as well. _He must be the coach…_ She thought to herself.

Yamada bent over and Sakuno looked to see why and saw that the girl had guards(1) on her skates so she could walk around without ruining the blades. After the girl slipped those off, she was back on the ice.

"After that bit of excitement, I'm happy to say that the main portion of this practice will now begin." She clapped her hands, getting everyone to pay better attention to her. "Good. Today, we won't be figuring out anything like who will be representing the school or how, merely seeing what everyone's skill level is. This is primarily important for you freshman. All the seniors and juniors are returning skaters, and I have a pretty good idea of where they're at, so I'm going to pay particular attention to you." She straightened her posture somewhat and made a beckoning motion with her hand. "With that said…hit the ice!" Sakuno was about to go but a huge whoosh! Of air passed her as the seniors and juniors went flying towards the rink.

"Geesh…" She said under her breath, and once again started going towards her skates. She took off her shoes slowly and then slipped the skates onto her feet. Like a pro, she laced her shoes and was the first freshman to hit the ice, but Sakuno being Sakuno, she didn't notice.

On the other side of the rink was the co-captain who diligently watched her skate. He was supposed to help rate the skaters and like Yamada said, the main ones they were worried about were the freshman.

_Her form is good._

He thought simply before turning away from her, looking to see if any of the other freshman have even gotten onto the ice yet. A few had and one of them was skating alright, but didn't seem to have his balance yet and two girls were gripping the side of the rink as though their lives depended on it. _It's just a fall…you'll survive._ He thought to himself annoyed as the girls clung to both the wall and each other for support. When he saw that, he was going to go over there and split them up as hanging onto each other would put at more risk for injury but saw that the teacher and coach of the club got there first.

Meanwhile, Sakuno was skating and trying to ignore the others that were staring at her. She could feel people just staring because she was one of the newest members on the ice. _Please stop, please stop…_ the mantra spun in her head, but she tried to not let it bother her. The mantra was stopped though with a clap on her shoulder.

"You really do skate well!" Eiji said, grinning as he began to skate beside her. She grinned back and felt some of her uneasiness fade away.

"I've been skating since almost as long as I can remember. Grandma always said that I skated better than I walked… I have to say I agree." She laughed, and Eiji chuckled along.

"That's cool though. I actually only started skating six years ago, back in Junior High sometime…at least a lot. I wasn't really good at it, but I thought it was fun so when I saw the sign up sheet in High School, I went for it." He explained. Sakuno nodded and as she did, the other former tennis club member came into her vision.

"Is that the same for Tezuka-Senpai?" She asked. Eiji and Sakuno were skating side by side and were actually currently in sync as they skated. No one actually noticed this though except the coach and the captain, the co-captain being just a bit in front of them.

Eiji laughed and shook his head. "Tezuka? Nah. He's probably been skating as long as you have. I think he used to be in ice skating clubs in elementary school and stuff because when he came to this club, he was already skating like everyone else…and like you are now." Sakuno blushed at the compliment, but then had a thought that really made her wonder.

"Tennis." She said out of the middle of nowhere and Eiji just looked at her confused. She blushed again, but this time from embarrassment. "Skating…doesn't it take away from tennis?" Eiji shook his head.

"Different seasons." He said simply and she rolled her eyes.

"I should have thought of that." She took a glance around the rink again. When she did, her eyes quickly went to Sad- Shimizu who was currently skating around the ice. She took a another good look and noticed that everyone was finally on the ice.

"Shimizu got back from her run." She whispered to herself for no reason. Eiji heard and turned to look at the girl in question.

"Yeah, and its Shimizu now? I thought the two of you were friends or something with the way you were talking to her." Sakuno shook her head.

"Ah…no. I didn't know what her last name was so I just started yelling out the name on her skates." She quietly said. Eiji nodded in understanding when Sakuno remembered something else. "Eiji, how did Tezuka already know what her name was?" Eiji laughed at that.

"Tezuka memorized all the names on the team, and I'm just guessing that when you were yelling Sada, there was only one person with that name so…" He trailed off. Sakuno grinned at that.

"I can see him doing that." She told him. While she didn't know her other senpai as well as the one skating beside her, she did get the impression that he would take time out of his schedule to do something like that.

They heard a whistle come from the center of the rink and everyone turned to see what was going on. The coach stood there with a clipboard in hand.

"Everyone, gather round." Everyone did as asked, and for the most part, the group moved as one, but a few of the freshmen and one of the juniors seemed sort of shaky at the turning. One of the freshman even had to slowly bump into one of her friends just to get herself to stop.

The coach waited patiently and when everyone had finally done as he had asked.

"Alright, I know that Yamada did roll call for you new members and Tezuka did it for the returning, however, I'm now going to call off everyone's names and you'll raise your hand and say how much skating experience you've had up until this point…" The coach heard someone cough, trying to get his attention and he turned to one of the new freshman boy members.

"Yes?" He asked. The boy bit his lip.

"Er…what's your name?" The boy asked. There were some snickers from inside the group at the question, whether at the boy or the coach, Eiji and Sakuno weren't sure.

The coach rolled his eyes.

"I guess I'll start off with an introduction of myself, shall I? Fine. My name is Mr. Toriyomo. I've been a skating instructor since I've been working at this school which will be six years next month, and I've skated on and off when I was younger and have competed in some small competitions." He cleared his throat, "Now, for all of you."

"First, the seniors. Yamada Maeko."

"12 years. I've been skating in competitions for eight." The captain said.

"Tezuka Kunimitsu."

"11 years. I've been in competitions on and off since I was ten."

The names continued for a while, and Sakuno tried to remember them all when the coach finally started on the freshman students.

"Shimizu Sada."

"I've been skating for 11 years and have been in competitions and plays for 10." The now well known freshman said somewhat smugly. Sakuno's eyes widened at that. _She must have been skating since she was like…four, and have been in shows since around them too. Wow._

"Hashiki Makoto."

"I've only skated for fun before. Nothing constant and never in shows or anything like that." He said nervously, looking around and scratching the back of his neck. Sakuno grinned at him, hoping it would make him a bit less nervous.

"Ryuzaki Sakuno." The coach said and while Sakuno didn't notice, Tezuka got a briefly annoyed look in his face, for himself. _I'm an idiot. Why didn't I remember Ryuzaki's granddaughter? And why didn't I think of her when I was reviewing the names?_ He wondered to himself, but was still able to hear what she said.

"I've been skating since I could walk just about." She said softly. Tezuka remembered her during Junior High and had to wonder if she _could_ actually walk yet. _That girl was so clumsy._ "No shows though."

There were a few more names on the freshman list and then the coach slowly looked each and everyone in the eye.

"These are your teammates. Support them, help them. You are no better than any of them, you are no worse than any of them." He suddenly smiled at them. "And have fun together! Practice together! Help each other out!" He looked at his watch. "Looks like you're all getting out a bit early tonight!" He told them. "Today is Tuesday so…see you tomorrow!" With that, he skated out and Sakuno just looked around, surprised.

"That was it?" She asked Eiji. The older boy grinned at her.

"Sakuno-chan, we've been skating for fifty minutes, and that's not including what you freshman were here for, or the teachers talk." Sakuno looked even more surprised at that and glanced at her watch.

"Oh man… I didn't even realize! I always lose track of time when I skate." She told him. Sakuno looked around and watched as everyone went to pack up except for Tezuka and Yamada who were discussing something on the ice still.

"I wonder what they're talking about." She pondered to Eiji. In return, Eiji did a little jump and clapped his hands like a kid.

"Oh! I know that one! They're probably trying to figure out who's going to represent us at the first competition. It's in two and a half weeks I think." Sakuno's jaw dropped.

"Two and a half weeks? That's not a lot of time!"

"I guess so. Either way it's true."

The two finally got off the ice and Sakuno slipped off her skates and watched as everyone left before her. Eiji stopped to give her an enthusiastic hug before he left, and the coach and Yamada soon after that. The only people left in the building was her and Tezuka. She saw him leaning back on the bleachers with his eyes shut. She kept looking at his face and felt a bit of warmth enter her cheeks. Suddenly, the blush went from 'because she was checking out a boy' blush to 'really embarrassed' blush when his eyes snapped open and caught her at it.

"Are you done yet?" He asked, looking at her…like he looks at everyone.

"Wa-What?" She could have sworn she saw him roll his eyes.

"Are you done yet? I can't leave until you do."

Sakuno's hands went to cover her mouth.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry senpai! I'll hurry quickly!" She turned around, so she didn't catch the strange look that he gave her because of her actions, and instead just threw everything into the backpack she brought back with her.

She turned back around and smiled, giving him a quick wave and bow.

"Bye!" And with that, she left the rink

_-fin chapter-_

A/N: I hope I explained Tezuka's involvement in the ice skating club well enough :) At first I was like…he is NOT a skater but the more I looked at him, I was like… why the heck not? Anyway, once again, anyone want to beta for me? I need it . 

– Covers you can put over the blades of the skates


	4. 3: Ice Play

**__**

Ice Princess

Troubled Typist

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A/N: Just wanted to say… emii-chan, Chibi-chan990, KeikoHyuuga, leafninja95... You guys rock .

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Chapter Four: Ice Play

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Last Time

The only people left in the building was her and Tezuka. She saw him leaning back on the bleachers with his eyes shut. She kept looking at his face and felt a bit of warmth enter her cheeks. Suddenly, the blush went from 'because she was checking out a boy' blush to 'really embarrassed' blush when his eyes snapped open and caught her at it.

"Are you done yet?" He asked, looking at her…like he looks at everyone.

"Wa-What?" She could have sworn she saw him roll his eyes.

"Are you done yet? I can't leave until you do."

Sakuno's hands went to cover her mouth.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry senpai! I'll hurry quickly!" She turned around, so she didn't catch the strange look that he gave her because of her actions, and instead just threw everything into the backpack she brought back with her.

She turned back around and smiled, giving him a quick wave and bow.

"Bye!" And with that, she left the rink

-

"Tell me everything." Was the first thing to come out of Tomoka's mouth when she and Sakuno started to walk to school together. Sakuno just shrugged and smiled, annoying Tomoka. "Come on girl! Tell me! Did you know anyone? Did anyone know you? Were there any cute boys? Any boys? Or any girls you could be friends with? Did you know anyone? Tell me!" She asked. Sakuno just grinned, knowing that it was getting on Tomoka's nerves. She wasn't one to torture someone though and finally began to talk.

"There isn't much to talk about. I showed up, along with a bunch of other freshman, they took attendance, and we skated." She said as she stopped at a stop sign. She looked both ways to make sure no cars were coming, then quickly crossed the street, Tomoka following her closely.

"Are you sure about that?" Said the other girl, putting her arms behind her head. "Not a single thing happened?" She sounded disappointed. "Well that's no fun."

Sakuno wondered if she should tell Tomoka about Sada but decided not to. Tomoka had an ear for gossip and Sakuno didn't want to feel guilty if Tomoka started to spread something that wasn't true.  
_I should probably feel bad about thinking that of Tomoka…_She mused to herself, but as she listened to Tomoka talk about this guy she knew that knew this guy that was dating his teacher (1) she decided it was a good idea after all.

"So…Did you know anyone?" Tomoka repeated after finishing one of her stories. Sakuno nodded. Tomoka waited but Sakuno didn't tell her who, making her blow out an angry breath. "Who?" She finally asked, knowing she'd have to dig for the answers that she wanted.

Sakuno grinned. "Tezuka and Eiji Senpai." Tomoka actually stopped on the sidewalk with her mouth open in shock. The total silence thing was a new thing for Sakuno, having never had it when Tomoka was this close by.

It ended quickly though.

"Tezuka and Eiji Senpai?!" She practically screamed. "You have GOT to be kidding me!" She put her hands in front of her and fisted them together, getting hearts in her eyes. "You're so lucky Saku-chan! How I wish to be in your shoes." She returned to normal after that. "Not that mine are so bad. Did you know that the president of the Anime club is a manga writers son? And did I tell you he was _cute?"_

Sakuno rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Come on Tomo, we have to get going or we'll be late for class."

And the two girls hurried off to school.

The rest of the day went off without much of a hitch but Sakuno was excited. She had a feeling that they were going to start setting people up into practice groups and she couldn't wait to see where she ranked.

When she got to the rank later that day, she found out she was right. Yamada stood in front of the twenty-some students with her clipboard and gave the announcement.

"In two and half weeks, we're going to have are first show. This will be an hour long performance given by at most nine people in this group." At the words 'nine' a lot of the freshman drooped, knowing they were going to be overlooked for the performance.

"The performance" Captain Yamada continued, seeming not to notice what the freshman were feeling, "will be either _The Boy Who Drew Cats, Bunbuku Chagama, The Cat's Elopement, The Envious Neighbor, _or _The Husband of the Rat's Daughter._ Tezuka will be passing out the voting sheets now… and we'll figure out what we'll be doing before we start practice."

Sakuno looked up in surprise when she felt someone lightly tough her shoulder and saw Tezuka there, handing her a sheet of paper. Her cheeks turned red, though she wasn't sure why, and lightly grabbed the paper from him. She felt a nudge on her right side and turned to Eiji who was sitting beside her.

"What are you doing, looking at Tezuka, like that, eh?" He asked, grinning at her with a quick wink. Sakuno's blush deepened and she sputtered lightly.

"I-uh I-I dunno what you're t-talking about!" She finally said.

"Quiet during voting!" Yamada admonished and Sakuno and Eiji both turned to their slips of paper.

****

VOTE FOR ONLY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

The paper said on top. Sakuno quickly re-glanced at the following and circled The Cat's elopement, it being one of her favorite fairy tales of all time.

Yamada, Tezuka, and the coach went back through and got all the paper from everyone when Yamada pointed towards the rink.

"On the ice!"

And with that, everyone but Tezuka, the coach, and Yamada quickly fastened on their skates and started practice.

As she started to skate around the rink, Sakuno noticed something different from last time. _The older members are showing off more._

And they were.

Where as before, they all just skated around the rink, along with everyone else, this time people were skating backwards, doing twirls, and other simple moves. One girl even did a jump that landed impressively close to one of her friends around her but neither girl fretted over the landing so Sakuno guessed that the outcome was what was expected.

"Dang…" She whispered under her breath.  
"Dang…what?" Asked a voice beside her. Sakuno turned to grin at Eiji.

"Oh, nothing much…I am feeling intimidated though." She told him, turning back to look at some more skaters. The first one she saw actually separated itself from the group of people it was in and proceeded to jump into the air spinning two and half times.

"Did Shimizu just do a double jump?(2)" She asked. The girl that broke away was indeed Shimizu and after the jump she started to skate backwards to a clearer spot on the rink.

"Yeah…you recognized that?" Eiji asked, impressed. Sakuno blushed.

"I followed the Olympics…" She said as explanation. Eiji nodded.

"Do you know any tricks?" He asked her and Sakuno bit her lip looking nervous.

"I know a few, but they're nothing special…" She said. Eiji shook his head.

"Come on! Show something! It's fun…I'll show you mine, if you show me yours!" He laughed. Sakuno tried to playfully hit him but he skated out of her reach.

"Promise not to laugh?" She said after a few moments. Eiji nodded.

"Cross my heart and hope to die! …though not really." He said and Sakuno just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." She laughed as she skated away from him, so she'd be at a safer distance to do the spiral she had in mind. Before she attempted it, she skated around the center of the rink to pick up speed and when she figured she had about the right speed going and she was close to Eiji, she took in a deep breath, kicked up a foot, grabbed it behind her head and proceeded to spin three times before slowly lowering her foot back down as she slowed down.

Eiji whistled at her. "Sweet catch-foot spiral!" He said, hugging the girl when she got close enough. "And you said I would laugh at that! That was awesome!" Sakuno looked happy at that.

"Really?" Eiji nodded.

"Oh yeah!" He told her, "Now…what should I show you?" He asked. He snapped his fingers. "Nya! I got it!"

As she did before, Eiji skated away and started to gain speed as Sakuno skated around the rink with everyone else who wasn't getting ready to do something.

Then he turned when he got closer to her and started to skate backwards and Sakuno knew what was coming. He got closer to her and pushed off, jumping into the air and doing two turns before landing perfectly and skated backwards some more before returning to skate beside her.

She clapped her hands. "A double axle!(3) Sweet!"

Before Eiji could say anything to her though, Yamada skated onto the ice and whistled, catching everyone's attention.

"May I have your attention please?" Everyone turned to look at her. "We've tallied the votes and the play we will be doing will be…" She waited to add some emphasis to it, "The Husband of the Rat's Daughter. We will be starting to figure out parts today and the beginning of tomorrow, Seniors will be first, then Juniors, then the Freshman. We'll be splitting the rink in half," She motioned her hand behind her, pointing out that the coach and Tezuka were currently putting out a plastic small wall of some sort to split the rink in half. "Now, does anyone not know the story of _The Husband of the Rat's Daughter?_" A few hands raised at that, and Yamada nodded.

"Alright. Guess I have to tell it to you then."  
-_fin chapter-_

A/N: I stopped there so that I could finally get this chapter out to you guys! I had 3 exams, my laptop broke, and my birthday was this past weekend so I had practically no time to type…and if I did, I didn't have my laptop with me. : ) Hopefully the next chapter will get out sooner than this one did!

Hopefully I'll get some Tezuka/Sakuno going in either the next chapter or the one after that.

(1) - Heh, Gokusen, Shinkumi! Yeah!

(2) - A double jump is where the jumper

(3) - You start by skating backwards, then jump, spin two times, then land and skate backwards…Not very good at explaining it…


	5. 4: Makoto Channels Inui

-1_**Ice Princess**_

Troubled Typist

-

**Chapter Five: Makoto Channels Inui**

_-_

_**Last Time**_

"_May I have your attention please?" Everyone turned to look at her. "We've tallied the votes and the play we will be doing will be…" She waited to add some emphasis to it, "The Husband of the Rat's Daughter. We will be starting to figure out parts today and the beginning of tomorrow, Seniors will be first, then Juniors, then the Freshman. We'll be splitting the rink in half," She motioned her hand behind her, pointing out that the coach and Tezuka were currently putting out a plastic small wall of some sort to split the rink in half. "Now, does anyone not know the story of The Husband of the Rat's Daughter?" A few hands raised at that, and Yamada nodded._

"_Alright. Guess I have to tell it to you then."_

_-_

Yamada blew the hair out of her eyes as she waited for everyone to pay attention. When she was certain that everyone was listening to her, she started to speak.

"Alright, so the story of the Husband of the Rat's daughter goes like this. Once upon a time, there was a mother and father rat who had a little girl rat. In their eyes, they thought she was the most beautiful of all creatures and the mother was determined that she could only marry someone who's greatness matched her beauty. The first being the rats asked to marry their daughter was the sun, but the sun said that he could not marry the rat, for the cloud that blocked him out was far greater. The rats then asked the cloud, but the cloud also said that he couldn't marry their daughter because the wind blew him away so easily. They then asked the wind, but the wind told them that a wall could easily stop it. When they asked a wall, it told them that it was by no means a great being, for a rat could turn it to powder with its teeth. So they married her to a rat." She took a breath. "Any questions?'

Sakuno blinked and looked around. No one said anything and Yamada nodded. "Good. Juniors and Freshman, skate, and if possible, keep practicing your tricks. We'll be watching you. Seniors, follow me." With that, roughly a third of the skaters went to the other half of the rink.

Sakuno bit her lip and slowly, and started to re-skate. She didn't like skating alone and would prefer it if Eiji was still there but he was showing off what he learned over break to see if he'd get to be in the show.

Sakuno heard Makoto skate up beside her before he said anything. "Hey Sakuno!" The boy said, wobbling somewhat on the skates. Sakuno felt sort of bad for neglecting her new friend when she found out that Eiji was on the team.

"Hi Makoto!" She said brightly, turning backwards so she talk to the boy and look him in the face. The boy blushed at the attention the girl gave him. He was about to say something more when Shimizu Sada skated by with her pink and black colors and glared at Sakuno before skating away.

Sakuno looked at the girl confused and got back to skating side-by-side with Makoto. "What was that about?" She wondered aloud, mostly to herself, but Makoto answered her question anyway.

"I think she sees you as competition. I looked her up on the internet. She seemed familiar to me, and I actually found some stuff on her." Sakuno's eyes widened at the pale black haired boy. He grinned mischievously showing off his green braces(1), which made Sakuno smile back but then came back to her senses.

"Wait a sec-you _found _stuff out about her?" She asked incredulously. The boy nodded, his think green glasses going to the tip of his nose, making him push them back up.

"Yeah, apparently she's already gone national." Sakuno's eyes widened at that, but Makoto didn't stop there. "She's gotten two bronze and three silver medals there. She's been competing there since she was about eight, so…" He stopped to do the math in his head and Sakuno slowed with him. "out of seven years she placed high enough to be noticed." Sakuno nodded and looked back at the pink haired girl who split from the ring going around the rink and did an impressive Charlotte spiral.

"What the heck did she just do?" Makoto asked. Sakuno's eyebrows were going into her hair at seeing someone in person do the move.

"That's called a Charlotte spiral. You see how she bent forward getting her torso as close to the skating leg as possible? And then the other leg goes up into the air and is almost vertical." She took a moment to watch the girl skate herself back up into a normal position. "She has been to nationals…" Sakuno whispered to herself. She felt a pat on her back.

"Hey now, don't go sounding nervous on me." Makoto said. "You're good to, you know. I saw you skating earlier. That was impressive. Why don't you go out there and skate some to? Show her what you can do." Sakuno looked nervous at his suggestion.

"Erm… I dunno…" She whispered, Makoto heard her though and rolled his eyes.

"You don't need to be as good as her Sakuno! Besides, we're supposed to be practicing tricks here if you know them. I'm," he pointed to himself with his thumb, "one of those people that consider being able to stay on skates for five minutes without falling on my butt a trick." Sakuno giggled at this. "You though, you actually know how to do some of this stuff. Seriously Sakuno, just watching you skate _makes _me want to skate." Sakuno looked surprised at this and saw herself in Junior High, looking up to Ryoma. _He inspired me to play tennis…_ She thought to herself quietly. She looked at Makoto and grinned. _Am I really inspiring someone to skate? _As though he could read her thoughts, Makoto nodded, and Sakuno felt that she had to do at least one teeny, tiny, little trick.

"Okay," she finally relented, and Makoto let out a 'whoop!' making Sakuno blush, "but nothing special." He grinned up at her.

"I'm sure it will be." He grinned at her cheekily, but Sakuno, not noticing his flirting just grinned at him and skated away.

She thought as to what she should do. She didn't want to do a spiral, as Shimizu just did one. She wanted to do something different…she grinned then and decided to do one of her favorite moves. She skated forward before arching her back, and dropped her head back. While she was doing that, she was also lifting her right leg and putting it behind her at a 120 degree angle. When she finished the move she skated back to Makoto.

"Like I said, nothing to special…" Makoto shook his head at her modesty.

"No way! That was awesome. I know that move! I've seen it before…" he snapped his fingers by his head a few times before, "that's a layback spin! …isn't it?" Sakuno nodded happily.

"Yup!"

"And your leg, there's a name for the way you put your leg…what is it?" He said, hitting the side of his head lightly, trying to get the word to come to him.

Sakuno took pity on him, "It's called the attitude position. As long as the leg is in front, behind, or beside you at a 120 degree angle or somewhere really close to that, you've got it." Makoto nodded and grabbed a small booklet from his back pocket and Sakuno had a feeling as though she saw this before…on a boys Jr. High tennis team… before she could say anything though, Makoto asked her "How do you spell attitude?" Sakuno told him and right when she said 'E', Tezuka skated onto the ice and Sakuno and all the others immediately paid attention to his presence.

"Seniors are done. Juniors, line up alphabetically by last name and come over to the other side of the rink." No one moved and Sakuno could have sworn she saw his glasses flash. "Now."

The Juniors quickly lined up and got ready to skate for a part while the seniors skated back. The freshman nervously watched the switch, knowing that there time was coming soon.

After a few minutes of silence, Makoto started talking again. "How the heck does that guy do that?" He asked softly, looking back towards the other half of the rink. Sakuno shrugged and smiled softly.

"He's just like that."

_-fin chapter-_

A/N: Shorter than what I was planning on writing but I wanted to get the chapter out. I'm going to try and re-get with my betas next chapter, so I apologize on the mistakes in this chapter.

(1) - I just realized I never told you what Makoto looked like…oops!


	6. 5: Eiji is a Mystery

_**Ice Princess**_

Troubled Typist

-

A/N: Between my computer breaking, class, work, and volunteering, I completely forgot that I was writing this story! I am so sorry everyone!!

-

**Chapter Six: Eiji is a Mystery**

_-_

_**Last Time**_

"_Seniors are done. Juniors, line up alphabetically by last name and come over to the other side of the rink." No one moved and Sakuno could have sworn she saw his glasses flash. "Now."_

_The Juniors quickly lined up and got ready to skate for a part while the seniors skated back. The freshman nervously watched the switch, knowing that there time was coming soon._

_After a few minutes of silence, Makoto started talking again. "How the heck does that guy do that?" He asked softly, looking back towards the other half of the rink. Sakuno shrugged and smiled softly._

"_He's just like that."_

_-_

Sakuno and Makoto were skating together still as they watched the Juniors and Seniors switch places. When Eiji returned he was grinning a tad more than usual.

"Nya!" he started before he even stopped beside them. "I love showing off." Sakuno rolled her eyes but then looked between Makoto and Eiji.

"Oh my gosh! I have the worst manners! Eiji, this is Makoto, Makoto, this is Eiji." Makoto nodded shyly to the older boy but Eiji gave him a steady slap on the back and put his arm around his shoulders.

"You're going to love being here Makoto. Skating is fantastic, seriously..." Sakuno blinked as Eiji went off on how wonderful skating was and watched as he and Makoto started skating away from her. She was confused and a little put out by it, not getting what was going on. She looked around though, shrugged, and started to follow them, deciding that Eiji was just being Eiji. Sakuno felt like Eiji was doing something to Makoto but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

The mystery of Eiji and what he was doing was not made anymore clear to her when he started to send questions at poor Makoto a mile a second.

"Favorite skating brand?"

"Er...I don't skate much, so I don't really have-"

"Favorite color?"

"Erm, green."

"Girlfriend? Boyfriend?"

"Um, neither, what does this-" Eiji put his hand up in front of Makoto's lips, silencing the other boy.

"All will be explained in good time..." For the first time in almost twenty minutes, Eiji finally turns his attention back to Sakuno and winks at her, and she hasn't got a clue if she's supposed to know what it means or not.

"Juniors are done, its the Freshman's turn." Tezuka said, skating to the middle of the rink again. The Juniors all came back, some looking confident, but most looking defeated and Sakuno felt her stomach drop.

_A lot of the seniors looked happy when they were done..._she thought to herself, _but if this many Juniors looks like this, I wonder what the Freshman tryouts are going to be like..._She winced, thinking of all the sad faces that were probably going to happen. _Maybe I already know... _She thought nervously.

She skated over with Makoto behind her, Eiji wishing them both luck. She wasn't sure if she just imagined it or not, but she could have sworn she saw Eiji _wink _at Makoto. She probably just imagined it though, she figured.

Yamada was having everyone line up in a row, leaving about a 30 x 30 foot space of clear skating area. She looked down at her clipboard and tapped it idly with the pencil in her hand. The coach was leaning on the side of the rink, watching over everything with his own clipboard in hand, and Tezuka was standing beside him, a clipboard in his hand as well.

"This is how everything is going to go down." Yamada began. "I will call your name, you will skate into the middle of this area. I will then give you three things to do. The three of us," she pointed at herself, the coach, and Tezuka, "will each grade you individually. When this is all done, Tezuka will then take this information home, figure out the total percentages, and the three of us will then discuss out of those who scored highest who will be in the play, and who won't be. I would like to point out that if you don't want to be in the play, you don't have to be. Just say so before you start skating. You will however have to try out anyway, to get used to the feeling and to get used to being watched. Now, if that is all..." She looked down at her clipboard. "Groves, Anika" A slighly overweight girl with short brown hair skated up. She was wringing her hands something fierce. She said that she'd like to help the show, if possible but not be in it, and for the first time, Sakuno saw Yamada smile.

"Everyone helps with the show, you have nothing to worry about." She said, and some of, but most definitely not all, of Anika's anxiety went away.

"Alright." Yamada said again, "I would like you to skate in a circle, as well as you can, in the area provided." Anika nodded and did as she was told, even if it was somewhat sloppy. "Good, now I would like you to show me how you stop when your skating." Anika moved some on her skates and then proceeded to lift up one foot and bring it back down, making the stop very skaky. Yamada nodded her head again, "Excellent, Anika, now I would like you to-"

But Sakuno's attention was dragged from her captain to Shimizu when the pink haired girl huffed.

"This is so bogus!" She moaned to herself lightly, making sure that the captain, co-captain, and coach couldn't hear her. "This girl totally sucks!" Sakuno's mouth dropped at this and her fists clenched. She felt fire burning inside of her and she desperately wanted to hit the other girl but she kept her senses. _Oh my goodness! I've never felt that angry at someone before! I've never wanted to hurt someone on purpose before! _She thought, but she still had a headache from the new anger she was feeling, and her throat was constricting on her, because she was keeping her anger bottled up inside.

She ended up settling for glaring at the girl, figuring that if nothing else, some of her anger might be released in as little problem making way possible.

The other girl didn't know any of this of course, just kept making noises of disgust.

Sakuno then turned to Makoto but the boy seemed to be deep in thought, and she didn't want to disturb him.

"Ryuzaki, Sakuno." Yamada said, breaking Sakuno from her reverie and had her skating in front of everyone into the clear spot.

"If possible I'd like to be in the play." She said. Yamada nodded, and marked on her clipboard. She then looked at her list then back to Sakuno.

"I want you to do...a donut spin." Yamada stated. Sakuno looked at her in surprise, she was expecting something easy like Anika's circle, but apparently not. She nodded though and tried to remember if she ever did a donut spin before. She was pretty sure she didn't, but she did do spins similar to it and decided to try it.

She tried to remember how Shizuka Arakawa did it on TV a few nights before. Sakuno, while thinking this, started to skate in a circle, and quickly skated into a camel position, meaning that one leg stayed down, the other went up and she began to bend her leg at the knee. She also started to send her upper body back to, and grabbed her leg, and started to spin, even though she was losing speed fast. She tripped accidentally and hit the ice hard, letting out an 'Ooomph!' but quickly pushed herself back up with an impressive little spin and looked at Yamada who was once again, scritch scratching on her clipboard.

"That was good-" Sakuno was aware of a scoff from the freshman but ignored it, knowing it was Shimizu. "I now want you to do a...simple twirl." Sakuno nodded and did as she did before on the rink in front of Eiji and the others. "Good, now...show me a... spread eagle." Sakuno grinned lightly at this request. When she was younger, it was among the first things she learned on ice. She started to skate around the area normally and then, making sure her balance was right, leaned back, hands and legs apart from each other and away from her and she just did that for a while, spinning in circles until she heard Yamada nod and motion for her to go stand by Anika.

"Hashiki Makoto."

-fin chapter-


	7. 6: A Surprise

Ice Princess

Troubled Typist

-

A/N: To anyone interested, there's a YouTube video of TezuSaku! I thought it was awesome! It's called 'Brand New Day'. Thats all :) Also, this chapter is super short, sorry!

-

Chapter Six (really!): 

A Surprise (Tezuka)

-

It was the next day and Tezuka was carrying the finished tallies of everyone's skating scores into the rink. It wasn't that hard to figure who was going to be in the show and who wasn't judging from the stats. He, Yamada, and Coach Toriyomo had all judged roughly the same on everyone and while the coach was a little bit nicer with his scores, Yamada and Tezuka's own made up for it.

It was roughly an hour before everyone else would get here for practice when Tezuka walked into the area that the ice rink itself was and looked for Yamada and the coach. The two of them were going through a book, pointing and looking at things, and Tezuka could only guess that the two of them were looking at costumes for the show.

As he got closer, he realized he was right. Yamada was pointing at a mousy brown girl costume, while the coach was pointing at some white one and both were arguing about what would be better. Tezuka just walked over to them and placed the papers on Yamada's lap.

"Holy shi- Tezuka! Don't scare me like that!" She said, grabbing the papers and looking at them. She grinned though, when she saw what they were, before changing her appearance to her usual stern self.

"So these are the final tallies?" She asked. Tezuka nodded and when Yamada saw this she looked back at the paper again. "Hmm..." She brought her hand up to push her hair out of her eyes and grabbed a pen from her duffel bag that was sitting beside her.

"I don't think she should be in the show." She said bluntly. Tezuka looked over her shoulder and got confused. Yamada didn't notice however, or didn't care, and showed the name she circled to the coach. He smirked and nodded, motioning for her to show Tezuka. Finally, she turned the revised paper toward him.

Yamada's green pen stood out on the paper, and made the name that it circled all the more noticeable.

"Ryuzaki?" Tezuka asked, actually sounding somewhat confused. Yamada nodded, and while Tezuka didn't right out ask the question why she knew he was thinking it and answered.

"Her scores are high enough, and she wants to be in the show but... We think she would be better suited to start skating in front of others in about...two months from now...wouldn't you say coach?" Yamada asked, her voice on the edge of teasing.

The coach nodded, grinning at Tezuka who was still confused.

_Two months from now? _He thought, _What's so special about tw-_ then it was like his mind stopped and came roaring back to life.

"The competition?" He asked, somewhat shocked. The other two nodded smugly and Tezuka was beginning to have a sinking feeling in his stomach. "But...why? Her scores were okay for the play but not for that." He said it blandly, but he had a feeling he knew where this was going and that it was going to put him into a very awkward position.

"Because shes small, light, and she already knows you." Yamada brought the paper back in front of her and poked at Sakuno's name repeatedly with her pen, while looking at Tezuka.

"Barely...You've got to be kidding." Yamada snorted at that.

"I don't kid, and if I did, I'd know better than to try and kid you. You have less of a sense of humor than I do and that's saying something." At this the coach snorted and had to cough back a laugh as the other two turned to glare at him. "Anyway," Yamada continued. "We need to enter someone into the pairs category. You and her would be perfect."

"I skate alone."

"You didn't the last two years, when you partnered with me." She glared at him, crossing her arms but Tezuka was hardly moved by this.

"That was different, you needed someone to help you get that skating scholarship, and I helped you. Other than that, I haven't skated with anyone."

"You're just dragging your feet."

"Hn." Tezuka didn't have anything to say here, as he didn't want to admit she was right.

"Listen Tezuka, you are an excellent skater alone or paired up. We need to enter at least one pair into the Tokyo Ice Bowl(1) or we won't be entered. My partner left last year. We don't have a pair, and we need one. Sakuno would be the perfect partner for you...except I doubt she's ever skated in pairs..." She trailed off.

"...which is where some very harsh training is about to commence." Tezuka said, crossing his arms and stared at her. Yamada nodded and smiled.

"It's good to see that you're seeing things my way."

--fin chapter--

(1) – This is totally made up. I just wanted to start calling it something other than 'The Competition'. And for those of you who care, I'm now straying from the usual skating club competition format, and doing it closer to other sports like Tennis :) More drama me thinks (but not in a bad way!)


	8. 7: Sakuno's Surprise

Ice Princess

Troubled Typist

-

A/N: Just want everyone to know I am now working a 60 hour work week! I'll try and keep updating and not forget about the story but if my updates are few and far in between its probably because I'm working two jobs now...and like playing NeoPets before I start writing – whistles --

Also, someone commented on Eiji's OOCness and...yeah. I've only written Sakuno and Tezuka so far and even then they're OOC but I went through some 'Eiji studying' and hopefully I've made him more 'in character' this chapter. Lol – this is also why I'm not writing all the Prince of Tennis characters yet! They have such defined characters that I'm worried I'm going to completely screw them all up if I just start writing them all at the same time.

I will try and get some more in later though! ...if they fit into the story!

-

Chapter Seven:

Sakuno's Surprise

-

Sakuno was excited as she strapped on her skates along with everyone else and hit the ice. Today was the day when everyone figured out what their jobs would be in the play. She doubted that she got a spot but she still felt that she might get a tiny part, maybe a back up cloud or something.

As she started to skate her mind started to drift and she was surprised when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Nya! What are you thinking about? You were about to crash into the wall! Nyah!" Sakuno blinked at Eiji and blushed, not even realizing how close to the wall she was skating.

"Thanks Sen-" He tugged on one of her braids when she started saying that, sending a pout at her. "...Eiji." He grinned at her and did an impressive little twirl and was then skating backwards but facing her so they could talk face to face. She grinned at him. "Are you going to do this every practice?" She asked him. He nodded vigorously.

"Yup!" His head turned to watch someone enter the rink and Sakuno turned to see it was Makoto. He slipped slightly when he first got on the ice but straightened quickly enough and Sakuno couldn't help but feel pride for her friend. Every practice since the beginning, Makoto always had to grab onto the wall when he came in at least for a while before he got his balance, but he got it right away this time.

She looked at Eiji who was still looking at Makoto. The older boy cocked his head to the side and watched as Makoto looked around, spotted them, and slowly began to skate over. Sakuno and Eiji both slowed their skating so he could catch up quicker.

"Hey guys!" He said, grinning. They exchanged pleasantries and Sakuno immediately brought up the subject of the play.

"Do you think you got in Eiji?" She asked. She remembered that Makoto didn't want to be in the play itself and asked if he could be part of the building crew. Eiji started to hum happily.

"It's to soon to tell Saku-chan! Nya!"

"Everyone, to the center of the rink!" Yamada stated. Sakuno turned, along with everyone else and started to skate over. She was always intrigued when she met people like Yamada or Tezuka. People who could just take command and others would follow. They never even needed to raise their voices because people just so rarely fought them back.

Yamada wasted no time in getting down to business. "This is the line-up for the play. Playing the part of the wall will be Hoshihana Akemi. Playing the part of the wind will be Nishino Kiyoshi. The cloud will be played by Kamigawa Shiro, and the sun by Kikumaru Eiji." Sakuno did a little jump and she felt Eiji do one at the same time. They both turned to each other looking wide eyed and then both grinned but turned back to Yamada quickly to pay attention to the next names – those for the rat family.

Sakuno blinked at that thought. _I can't believe how excited I am about finding out about the people who are becoming the rats..._

"Playing the part of the father rat will be Akibashi Isas, I will be playing the mother, and the daughter will be played by..." Sakuno leaned forward, holding her breath and squeezing her hands harshly. She knew she wasn't going to get the part, but maybe, just maybe... "Shimizu Sada."

Sakuno felt her heart drop, her mouth flop open and she would later swear that she heard crickets. She was pretty sure that if you asked Makoto and Eiji, they would both agree with her on that.

"For those of you who are going to be back up clouds, extra wind, and what not, your names are all right here. Nishino and Kamigawa, you two will be leading your extras..." Yamada trailed on but Sakuno, Eiji, and Makoto stopped listening. The usually talking trio were for once unsettled because of the decision once made.

It was Eiji who turned to look at the pink haired girl first.

"She seems awfully smug." He crossed his arms and pouted, causing Sakuno to pat his back gently. "You deserve it more than she does." He told her, but Sakuno just shrugged.

"Not according to the papers. It's okay though Eiji."

"Still not right though." Makoto added and now Sakuno just rolled her eyes.

"What is with you two, really? I mea-"

"Ryuzaki Sakuno." Yamada said, looking directly at her. Sakuno and the other two looked directly at the captain and held their breath, wondering if they were going to get into trouble. "You have a special assignment. Your training times will be decided with Tezuka. The two of you will have discuss when you practice. He's figuring out some finances for the play right now but should be out in just a moment." The older girl then just up and skated away leaving a bewildered Sakuno in her wake.

Sakuno blinked twice then at the two boys who were on either side of her. "...what just happened?"

Makoto shrugged but Eiji crossed his arms behind his head and laughed.

"Sakuno's getting some alone time with the c-" Now, Sakuno was not a person prone to violence, but she did shove the older boy. Not that this did anything to stop the giggling senior who just kept standing through Sakuno's light shove.

"Shoving isn't permitted." A voice said from behind her. She turned and flushed when she saw Tezuka and bowed her head.

"Sorry Senpai."

"Hn. You two, start skating. Ryuzaki, come with me." As Makoto and Eiji did as they were told, Sakuno also did and followed Tezuka off the ice and onto the bleachers. Sakuno felt like something very bad was going to happen. Why was she asked to do the special assignment? Why not someone else? Did she do _that_ badly the other day? She only kind of screwed up on the tu-

"Stop thinking." Tezuka told her after a few moments of silence on the bleachers. Sakuno's thoughts stopped racing for a moment and looked confused at the co-captain.

"What?"

"You're thinking to much. Stop it and listen." He said like...he usually says things. Sakuno just nodded and bit her lip, looking him in the eye. "Did Yamada tell you what was going on?" Sakuno shook her head no and Tezuka nodded stiffly. "She wants you and me to be partnered up for the upcoming tournament."

Sakuno started impersonating a fish at this point for a few minutes. Her mouth opened in a little 'o' and she kept trying to say something but nothing would come out. Tezuka brought his fingers up and placed them on her chin, closing her mouth by pushing up lightly. He looked at his fingers for a moment after that, noticing they were warm but mainly he looked at them and wondered why the heck he just did that.

Sakuno on the other hand didn't really notice what he did and was still trying to get her head wrapped around what he said.

"You...me...partner...tournament?"

"Yes."

"But, I – you? Skating...pairs?"

"Yes...I think."

"I...I've never skated with someone else like that before." Sakuno said, somewhat proud at herself that she was able to start making coherent sentences again.

"We're aware of that. That's where the practice comes in."

Sakuno blinked again and looked at her hands. Her mind immediately went to Jr. High and High School during the sunnier months. All she could think about was tennis and how much they practiced and that if the teams practiced that much that means the the captain probably practiced...

"I expect you here everyday. We will practice at least two hours a day. On practice days you will have regular practice plus another two hours of just the two of us in the rink. Any questions?"

...a lot.

"Um..." She started. "I doubt you can lower that? Or maybe make it so we can work up to more...?"

"I'm already doing that."

Sakuno blinked, saying nothing, then blinked again.

"Oh. Okay. I guess we'll do that then."

Tezuka nodded and got up to go to the rink, leaving Sakuno alone on the bleachers.

"I hope I can live to see the tournament..." She whispered to herself, only half joking, as she stood up and started to walk back to the rink.

-fin chapter-


	9. 8: For Makoto

Ice Princess

Troubled Typist

A/N: I start my part time job tomorrow! Wish me luck! I also have to work at my full time job tonight so I wanted to get another chapter out before all of that :) Hehe. Enjoy.

Chapter Eight:

For Makoto

Sakuno went back to the ice, lost in her thoughts, but aware enough of what was around her to skate towards Makoto and Eiji. Neither had noticed that she had returned to the ice and were deep in conversation with each other. Sakuno was wondering what Eiji was saying to the other boy, from the way that Makoto was blushing but didn't get the chance. She cleared her throat, bringing both of their attentions back to her.

"Well, Sa-chan?" Eiji asked, gripping her shoulders lightly, looking into her eyes, worried. While earlier, he was teasing her, he wasn't sure what was going on either. Now both he and Makoto were worried for her. She grinned at him.

"I'm being partnered with Tezuka." She said simply.

"Nani?!" Eiji got little cat ears in surprise and Sakuno grinned at the visual.

"Why would you be partnered with Tezuka? He isn't even in the play? He doesn't do them!" Makoto pondered out loud.

"He said it was for some tournament that was coming up-"

Eiji interrupted her, "The Ice Bowl!" Sakuno blinked.

"The competition...is the Ice Bowl?" She said slowly. Eiji started nodding excitedly and Sakuno started feeling nervous butterflies in her stomach.

"I'm going into the Ice Bowl?" She said. Eiji just kept nodding but Makoto was looking in between the two with a confused look on his face.

"Ice Bowl? I think I've heard of it but...what the heck is it?" Sakuno and Eiji both turned to the bespectacled boy in shock.

"You don't know?" Sakuno said, more surprised that Makoto didn't know something than anything else.

"Oh! Let me tell him! Nya!" Eiji said, not giving Sakuno a chance to start talking. "The Ice Bowl is the first wave of competitions! Basically its figuring out which teams are the best and whichever teams are the best in this district will go on to regionals, and whoever is best at regionals go to Nationals!" Eiji started jumping up and down again, grabbing Sakuno's hands and twirling her in a circle.

Sakuno, who (usually) only skates alone had a hard time holding her balance and almost fell. Eiji, realizing this, slowed down before she had a chance to fall.

"You've never skated in pairs before, have you Sa-chan?" He said, cocking his head to the side. Sakuno shook her head nervously.

"No..." She laughed nervously, "You don't think that thats going to be a problem, do you?" Eiji smiled softly at her but pat her head lightly before taking her into a tight hug and releasing her.

"You'll do great Sa-chan..." he started doing his regular grin again. "You're going to be representing us at the Ice Bowl!" Sakuno, still nervous and unsure smiled back but with less light in her eyes than usual.

"Yeah. I am gonna be, huh?" She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked at Makoto.

"You're going to be great Sakuno. Don't worry about that ."

"Hai!"

"Kikumaru! To the center!" The three of them all looked at Yamada who had everyone who was in the play behind her. The only one who wasn't over their was Eiji. Sakuno blushed at everyone's attention, Makoto looked to the ground but Eiji just put a hand behind his head and laughed.

"Gotta go! Nya!"

After that, nothing special happened during practice. Sakuno did her normal stuff, jumping, twirling, spinning, and just skating. She then tried to think about doing it with someone else but she just couldn't imagine it. Someone else behind her? In front? Holding her?

Sakuno knew about pairs moves and a lot of them were dangerous. She was worried about putting her life into someone else's hands but if she was going to skate with Tezuka-buchou, that was exactly what they were expecting her to do.

She wanted to skate pairs, she did, it was something she always wanted to learn, but she never thought about how she was going to start, and just figured she never would. All those new moves...she wanted to learn them, but she was so afraid of them. 

The spins wouldn't be to bad, she figured. In fact, they might even help a skater improve their balance. The jumps...well they would just being doing the jumps at the same time...but the lifts?

Sakuno stopped skating. She was on auto-pilot in the rink and was just skating randomly. When she started thinking about the lifts it was as though she woke up and started to see the rink and everyone inside of it again.

Those who were going to be in the play were in the center of the rink, with Yamada the coach and Tezuka instructing and describing what was going to be happening and how they would all be working and what moves they were expected to do and how. They had all gotten scripts by now and were reading them aloud to each other. Sakuno glanced at Eiji and had to admit that they made a good decision in placing him as the sun. It fit him.

After that, Sakuno looked around for Makoto but didn't notice him anywhere.  
"Where did he go?" She asked herself quietly when she heard a chuckle from her side.

"Where did who go?" Makoto asked her. Sakuno blushed.

"I er... didn't see you there. Sorry." Makoto laughed at her embarrassment.

"I've been right here since Eiji left." He said grinning. "You've just been in your own little world and didn't notice. What are you thinking about, anyway?"

Sakuno bit her lip and put her hands behind her back, clasping them. "Just nervous, I guess." She said softly. Makoto wanted her to say more but didn't push the subject. He figured if she wanted to tell him, she would.

It didn't take long for Sakuno to get back to what broke her out of her reverie last time to return and take her back. She turned her attention to Tezuka though as he helped some of the skaters understand their lines and go over why they had to do it 'like this' and 'not that'.

She thought back to Tennis again, and how good he was at it, how dedicated. She had to wonder if she was ready to be as dedicated as him. She knew if they were going to be partners, she would have to give as much as he was going to to the team, but she wondered if she even had that much to give. Sakuno knew that Tezuka was strong and could probably lift her without a second thought, but would she let him? Would she be able to control her balance enough so that they both didn't go tumbling to the unforgivable ice?

Sakuno had had her fair share of falls on the ice (as well as everything else) but that goes with the territory. She knew this. But in pairs? If she fell, there was a good chance that she would hit her head, or fall and get Tezuka with her skates and blood and hard ice didn't make for a very good day. Sakuno felt her doubts creeping in again, wishing that they gave her some more time to think about all of this when she felt Makoto's hand on her shoulder again.

"Sakuno. You're going to be fine. Trust me. You'll be awesome."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Sakuno grinned at him and couldn't help but give Makoto a quick hug. "I'll do it then, for you." Makoto just smiled and kept skating, and for now, Sakuno's mind didn't drift any farther then the rink.

-fin chapter-


	10. 9: I'll Watch Out For You

Ice Princess

Troubled Typist

A/N: I don't think its to OOC, but it might be! This chapter, but, again, I don't think its to bad.

Chapter Nine:

I'll Watch Out For You

Practice seemed to take forever to Sakuno but when it was finally over, she wished it would go on just a little longer. If she knew Tezuka at all, she knew that their first practice session would be tonight. She went off the ice with everyone else, but while they all went to the lockers to change, Sakuno sat on the bleachers waiting for someone to tell her what to do.

She felt someones hand on her shoulder and she jumped, turning to look at Eiji who was grinning at her. "Don't let him practice you to death, Sa-chan! He almost always did that to us in Tennis." He teased. Makoto beside him, nodding in agreement, even though he was never on a tennis team. She smiled as calmly as she could to the both of them, and agreed to make sure that Tezuka wouldn't accidentally put her six feet under because of to much practice and waved bye to them when they finally left her side.

She sat patiently again, waiting for Tezuka. She figured he'd be out soon as almost everyone on the team were gone from the rink except a few stragglers.

"Knew I was better than you." Sakuno blinked at the voice. It was Shimizu, and her arms were crossed over her chest and her skates were thrown over her shoulders carelessly, but well enough that the blades wouldn't hurt her. Sakuno swallowed, but nodded to the other girl.

"Y-yes. I suppose...so?" Sakuno was lost to whatever it was that Shimizu was talking about...and what did Sakuno care if Shimizu was better than her or not?

"You stumbled on a simple camel turn-" Shimizu started. Sakuno, though still timid, decided to put in her part of the story whether Shimizu liked it or not.

"I never did that turn before. I never needed to. I think that doing that for the first time with no instruction is pretty good."

Shimizu snorted. "Please." And with that, she to left the rink, leaving Sakuno lost and confused, wondering what it was that just happened.

"Ready?" Tezuka asked. Finally, Tezuka was here and Sakuno stood up, wringing her hands.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She smiled at him nervously. He nodded and motioned her to the rink.

He led her to the center of the rink and turned to face her.

"Have you ever skated in pairs before?"

"No."

"Have you been formally trained in skating?"

"No."

"You pick up on new tricks quick?"

"Y-yes."

He nodded and held out his hand. Sakuno stared at it for a few moments before looking him in the eyes. She looked back down to it and placed her hand in his. They stood like that a little while but then he pulled her to him and she collided into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and they stood like _that _for a while. Sakuno blinked and looked up at him.

"Um...what was that for?" She asked, trying not to pay attention to his warmth as she leaned on his torso for support. He looked down at her and she felt her breath catch at how close their faces were. She wasn't sure if he was feeling anything or not but she decided it was probably a thought that she not dwell on.

"You need to get used to being around me. It's the first step into making this work." He told her. He let go of her and took a few steps back. He then inspected her from her skates to the top of his head. "How much do you weigh?" He asked. Sakuno was taken back abruptly.

"W-what?!" She practically screeched. To be fair, Sakuno is a very sweet girl and everyone knows this. It's also fair to acknowledge that a girl's weight is just _not _ an area that a boy should get into...or anyone really. The girl usually didn't even like being there.

"Your weight. I need to know. I'm going to be lifting you around me and above my head in less than two months. I'd like to know how much that is."

Sakuno swallowed and while she didn't like it, answered anyway.

"Erm...I dunno. Around 120 lbs. (1)." She whispered, seriously not wanting to say it. He nodded though, not noticing anything out of the ordinary.

"Alright...that'll work."

Sakuno put her hands on her hips and wanted to ask what he meant by that but he didn't give her a chance to start. He grabbed her hands again and once again just left them there. Sakuno was lost as to what she was supposed to be doing and told him as such.

"Feel it. My hands. Whatever you get from them, think it, feel it, know it." He told her stiffly. Sakuno thought that he was repeating something that someone else once told him. She did however try what he wanted her to.

She looked down at their hands. His were now basically enveloping hers gently. His fingers were long and his hands on a whole were completely calloused from years of intense training. His skin was warm, much warmer than hers.

"...me." He let go of her hands after that and took a step back.

Sakuno looked up at him confused. "Excuse me?" She asked him.

"Hug me." He was stiff and she could tell uncomfortable, but it was hard to pick up on. She was about to ask him why again but figured it was the same reason that they held hands. She also wondered why he didn't just pull her into a hug like before but she also figured the answer to that on her own pretty quickly. He isn't exactly a person to initiate a hug, she thought to herself, and perhaps he's trying to get me to do some of the work.

Sakuno was someone who hugged others, though. She opened her arms and carefully wrapped them around his neck and held on.

"I'm going to skate backwards, alright? I'm going to take you with me."

"A-alright."

They skated backwards, and stopped again. "Okay," He said, "Now I'm going to skate forward, and you're going to skate backwards."

And for the rest of their personal practice, they did this. Switching between who goes forward, who goes backwards, holding each other, and just getting used to each other.

They started to spin while holding onto each other when Sakuno tripped. She tried to correct herself and not fall on Tezuka but didn't quite succeed with the correction so while she wasn't going to bring Tezuka down with her, she was still going to fall onto the ice. As she braced herself for impact, she felt two arms circle her and grab on, stopping her descent. She looked up at him with a blush and started to apologize but he wouldn't let her.

"It doesn't matter. Just know that I'm on the ice with you. I'll do what I can to watch out for you, okay?" He asked her. She nodded and he straightened them both up. "That should be enough for today." He said, once they were both on their feet. Sakuno nodded and Tezuka started to leave the rink, she stopped him with her voice.

"Tezuka?" She said, her voice sounding scared. He didn't turn around but he did stop and cock his head to show he acknowledged her. "And I'll watch out for you too, okay?" That prompted him to actually turn and look at her. Sakuno ducked her head, feeling silly about what she just said to him. It wasn't until she felt his fingers on her chin that she realized he moved from his spot.

"That's right."

-fin chapter-

(1) – I am AMERICAN!! ...and I'm terrible at figuring out what that would be in kilos or whatever it would be...stones? Isn't that another one? Oh well.


	11. 10: Painting and Cookies

Ice Princess

Troubled Typist

--

A/N: Welp, I'm tired beyond all belief but I sometimes think I write better in those times. Guess we'll find out, huh?

--

Chapter Ten:

Painting and Cookies

--

"I'm thinking that we should make the sky a little more purplish – make it seem like its dusk..." Sakuno heard someone say as she walked into the lobby area of the ice skating rink. Today's practice was only going to be for those in the play. Everyone else had to stay in the lobby and make the set for the play and the decorations that the audience would see as they came inside.

Leading the activity was Tezuka, who was looking at a clipboard. He looked up from it and nodded at her before looking back at the sheets. Sakuno blinked, wondering if she was hallucinating but shook her head. Surely it wasn't _that _out of place for Tezuka to acknowledge someones presence like that.

"I think we should make it blue, sky blue. If we do it like that, we're keeping everything simple and easy to understand." Some other random person said as Sakuno went to the lockers to deposit her stuff. When she came back she finally looked to see who all was here.

Makoto wasn't here yet, but the one girl, Anika, was. She was standing by the wall, wringing her hands and looking nervous. Sakuno bit her lip, wondering what to do when she walked over to the shy girl and said hi.

"Do you know what we're supposed to be doing?" She asked. Anika looked at her, surprised. Her brown hair swished around her face before she shook her head.

"Not a clue." She grinned. Her and Sakuno giggled a little bit before Sakuno cocked her head towards Tezuka.

"Let's see what he wants us to do." With that, she started walking towards the other boy, aware that Anika was behind her.

"What would you like us to do Tezuka buchou?" She asked him. He glanced at her before waving to his left where some supplies were laid out.

"You and Groves will be helping me create the rats home. The two of you can get started on it now." Sakuno nodded and went to the supplies, wondering what to do. Anika though got down on her knees and started lifting up the large planks of wood.

"Are you looking for something?" Sakuno asked. Anika shook her head.

* * *

"No, I'm just trying to see if theres instructions for how to put a rats house together!" The two girls laughed again, and Sakuno then joined the other girl on the floor.

"You put a rats house together?! Thats disgusting! I thought you joined an ice skating club, not a vermin one!" Tomoka whined over the phone. Sakuno had it resting on her shoulder as she stirred the bowl of chocolate chip cookies she was making. Much to her surprise, she got to leave the rink when everyone else did, because Tezuka had something at home he needed to do. Sakuno was fine with this as it let her catch up on a few things at home too.

"It's for the play Tomoka, I've already told you this, like, I can't even tell you how many times."

"Eight, but still!"

Sakuno rolled her eyes and looked around the kitchen for the spoon she put out to put dollops of the batter onto the cookie sheet. Once she found it, she proceeded to do that.

"Anyway, you wanna hang out tomorrow?" Tomoka asked her. Sakuno thought about it for a moment but declined. "Why not?" Tomoka whined again. "I haven't seen you in forever! I thought you got out of skating club after, what, two hours from when you get there? I can meet you there." Tomoka said, trying to make it sound like a deal.

"I'm sorry but I can't! I'm gonna be busy." Sakuno could picture the eyeroll that Tomoka was doing right at that moment.

"Busy doing what? Making more rats houses?" Tomoka said through the phone. Sakuno just sighed at the slight anger in her friends tone and shook her head.

"Something like that. Tomoka, I have to go. I'm really sorry, maybe sometime this weekend?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"Ja."  
"Hmph."

-click.-

Sakuno shook her head sadly again but started to put the cookies in the oven.

-fin chapter-

A/N: Super short, sorry! I have an idea of where I'm going to be finishing this story now but now I've got to figure out how to start getting it there... :) Hopefully the next chapter will be out quicker that this one was also.


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